Modeling putty?

[Chris333]

Actually,THE best way is to not need any kind of filler.I make everything from solid plastic,fit it as close as possible,then bond it in with lacquer thinner.Better to spend two hours fitting something than spend five minutes filling,a day waiting for it to dry,then destroy the thing trying to sand it without ruining the detail.

+10  I can't remember the last time I used putty. 

But the light Mark wants on that roof might require it.

[LV LOU]

+10  I can't remember the last time I used putty. 

But the light Mark wants on that roof might require it.

You know Chris,I forgot for a second what Mark was actually doing,looked at his original post,and the pic,and remembered a favorite filler for stuff like that..JB Weld..The stuff doesn't shrink at all,goes on easy,and,if you're really careful and take your time putting it on with a toothpick,it almost molds itself..REGULAR JB Weld,not the quick stuff.It files very nicely,too.

[Sokramiketes]

I JUST GOT OUT OF THE POOL
-George Costanza

[spookshow]

One question re the Glazing & Spot Putty - how tough is it once it's all dried and set up? The reason I ask is that occasionally I'll finish all of my "modeling", only to discover (once I lay on the primer) that I've goofed something up - at which point I need to strip off the primer and fix things. Up to now I've been using Squadron Putty for these sorts of projects. And in addition to being a PITA to work with, it also tends to melt away and vanish when faced with the 91% alcohol/toothbrush treatment. Is the Bondo-type stuff any tougher?

Thanks,
-Mark

[LV LOU]

Mark,most two part epoxies and fillers are pretty bulletproof,anything that won't damage plastic won't bother those,either.

[DKS]

Yep..Great in theory,lousy in practice... ANY commercial filler is better.

+1

The old dissolved-plastic trick is no trick--it's a mess.

[Mike C]

Hi Mark.  I have used both  Bondo ( the auto body 2 part )  Filler and the Bondo spot putty. Here's what I know .. If you are going to have to build up any kind of thickness at all you will want to use the 2 part Bondo. ( Also probably just about any 2 part epoxy would work also, and would be much eaiser to mix . )  The Spot putty is really just for filling in small cracks. If you make it too thick it takes a loooooong time to harden. I will usually use this for surface scratches, works great there... HTH.....Mike

[mmagliaro]

I have used Squadron White Putty, 2-part JB Weld, and styrene dissolved in liquid cement or laquer thinner.

I would use the epoxy for anything requiring strength and anything that has to hold its shape on its own,
like your case with the headlight housing.   The JB can be filed and sanded nicely, and will be very strong.  Make sure
there's no paint on the surfaces you are glueing, obviously.

Also, a quick shot of primer (even your main paint color... just SOMETHING)  over the epoxy area is important for 2 reasons.

1. It will expose flaws in your patch job.  You'll see imperfections in the surface and in where the epoxy joins the surrounding
plastic that you won't see until it's all primed the same color.  After this first coat, you can fine-sand things to make them
right.

2. It will guarantee that the paint all looks uniform through that area; if you don't put a base coat over the epoxy and the nearby
area, the epoxy will definitely take the paint differently and you'll see the patch.

[spookshow]

Sorry, I guess posting a follow-up question to my OP has resulted in a bunch of time-travelling answers to said OP. Allow me to now reframe the discussion -

I did decide to use Bondo-style glaze/spot putty for my AB6's cracks and crevices ("Evercoat" brand as it happens, since that's what was readily available locally). IE, done deal - it's been used. So, no more answers to the original "what should I use" question are needed at this point.

My question now is this - should I need to strip the (eventual) primer off my model (in order to fix whatever), do I need to worry about damaging my Evercoat putty in the process? Or is this stuff tougher than Squadron Putty? (My experience with Squadron Putty being that it tends to erode and basically vanish when faced with alcohol and a toothbrush).

Just trying to determine if my Spot Putty is going to need to be redone along with everything else should I find the need to go backwards and strip the model in order to fix something. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,
-Mark

[peteski]

Mark, I'm not a body-shop man but I have seen spot putties (like Bondo or Evercoat) used over primed metal.   When a primer coat is applied, it shows imperfections. So the spot putties are used to smooth out the imperfections then another layer of primer is sprayed.

That is how those products are designed to work. So you should have no problem using the putty over primer and then applying more primer on top of it.  BTW, is Evercoat a 2-part putty or just a single tube of solvent-based putty?  The 2-part putty is much better (again, since it hardens by a chemical reaction not by evaporation of solvent). But for small imperfections, 1-part putties will work fine.

[LV LOU]

Sorry, I guess posting a follow-up question to my OP has resulted in a bunch of time-travelling answers to said OP. Allow me to now reframe the discussion -

I did decide to use Bondo-style glaze/spot putty for my AB6's cracks and crevices ("Evercoat" brand as it happens, since that's what was readily available locally). IE, done deal - it's been used. So, no more answers to the original "what should I use" question are needed at this point.

My question now is this - should I need to strip the (eventual) primer off my model (in order to fix whatever), do I need to worry about damaging my Evercoat putty in the process? Or is this stuff tougher than Squadron Putty? (My experience with Squadron Putty being that it tends to erode and basically vanish when faced with alcohol and a toothbrush).

Just trying to determine if my Spot Putty is going to need to be redone along with everything else should I find the need to go backwards and strip the model in order to fix something. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,
-Mark

Mark,two part stuff like body filler[Bondo..] won't stick to primer,but stuff like Squadron will stick to both primer or Bondo,and primer will stick to both.You can freely strip Bondo like it was plastic,it's based on Polyester resin and Talc,so it's gonna be as resiliant as the plastic you put it on.It's perfectly acceptable to do the major fill with the Bondo,prime it,and fill minor imperfections with air dry spot putty over the primer.